What I’m Drinking: An Elusive Memory
Ah, here we are, 2025. If you can believe it – a new year, and one that would have seemed impossibly futuristic to a young me. Of course, the things that appeared top of the importance list to young me (I am old, I was young, you get it) on a January 3rd at say my tenth year, well, I’d have a hard time remembering them now, outside of whispers, at best. Not to say my memory is horrible, but, you know, time passes, specifics slip. For some reason, the early days of a new year, when so many are making resolutions and looking forward, always has me looking into the past, too. And when doing such, one needs the proper cocktail accompaniment – like this very drink, An Elusive Memory, which is named appropriately, and tastes swell, too. It combines deliciously-proper London-style gin Boodles (a firm favorite of mine for making cocktails and cause the name itself is fun to say) with a few friends that at first may not seem to go together: the exquisite Meletti anisette, the legendary Lillet, and Peychaud’s intriguing Whiskey Barrel Aged bitters. Really, we’re globe-trotting here, and the mixture comes together as smoothly as a flight without turbulence. All these flavors that may appear to be clashing are actually cozy, with various notes surfacing as you sip – in a way, to bring it all together, like memories surfacing as you troll the ol’ brain pan.
An Elusive Memory
Cracked ice
1-1/2 ounces Boodles gin
1/2 ounce Meletti anisette
1/2 ounce Lillet
2 dashes Whiskey Barrel Aged Peychaud’s bitters
1. Fill a cocktail shaker or mixing halfway full with cracked ice. Add everything. Stir well.
2. Strain into a cocktail shaker. Try to remember the time before you’d tasted this fine drink.
